Turkish tambur (original) (raw)

The tambur (spelled in keeping with TDK conventions) is a fretted string instrument of Turkey and the former lands of the Ottoman Empire. Like the ney, the armudi (lit. pear-shaped) kemençe and the kudüm, it constitutes one of the four instruments of the basic quartet of Turkish classical music. Of the two variants, one is played with a plectrum (mızraplı tambur) and the other with a bow (yaylı tambur). The player is called a tamburî.